Tag Archives: announcement

Never let it be said that Host Unknown jumps on a bandwagon; they prefer to create their own path in this industry, and do things their way, whatever the personal cost. It explains a lot.

Therefore, Host Unknown is proud to announce the release of their very first “iAudioBlog”, an entirely new way of disseminating their unique viewpoints of the information security industry to even more of the masses discerning listening public. The more cynical of you may see this as simply a Podcast, but Host Unknown think of it as so much, much more than that. Even just getting the three egos into one room was challenging enough, let alone having to restrain Andy from his infosec tourettes, stop Jav from dominating everything by mentioning his new employer at every turn, and stop Thom falling asleep at regular intervals. How they even managed to get special guests to appear on such a show like this is simply just another sign of how committed they are to their craft.

Unfortunately host Unknown have had to conform to the strictures of modern iAudioBlog listening and have submitted their pilot blog to iTunes for review and dissemination through their “Podcast” channel. As soon as it is published we will inform everyone, but if you can wait, you can listen to it right her, right now!

Of course, this now means you can vote for Host Unknown in more than just the Best Security Video Blog, but also the Best Security Podcast. Host Unknown consider this a very reasonable quid pro quo.

It’s 2014, yet the majority of companies still market and deliver information security communications like its 2001.

Host Unknown wasn’t founded on the basis of the charisma of our hosts:

And it certainly wasn’t because of their good looks:

It’s because we at Host Unknown believe there’s a critical gap in the security industry when it comes to how corporates approach this issue. More often than not the content is dry, boring and sanitised to within an inch of it’s life by over-cautious HR, legal departments or corporate comms.

In other words, security content looks like google, circa 1998, and that isn’t a good look for the 21st century.

These are the very same HR, Legal and corporate communications departments that spend tens of thousands employing scantily clad women to hand out USB drives in order to scan badges at conferences. Or hand out free alcohol at events. Or have giant billboards put up in a city… even take out TV ads. Honestly, when was the last time you (or anyone you knew) didn’t fast forward through a TV commercial, stopped to look at a billboard in the street, or made a big security investment because a nice girl handed you a USB stick? (Andy, don’t answer that last question.)

We want to rock the boat (just a little) because we’re passionate about the way the security industry is relegated to the status of a neutered mongrel. We do it because telling users about security can’t be done by killing them with PowerPoint. It’s done by telling them stories. To tell someone a story you need to grab their attention – and that attention is shifting FAST meaning their time and attention are valuable commodities.

The days of business to business (B2B) or business to customer (B2C) communication channels are over, it’s all about P2P (person to person), and when you deal with people everyone has their own preferences, likes and dislikes. We don’t expect everyone to agree with our methods or our storytelling techniques. But what we absolutely believe in, is that companies need to learn how to tell their stories in the most effective way.

And that means ditching the ancient constraints of walking on egg shells because you’re afraid to offend; your end product may not offend anyone, but it also will certainly not inspire anyone.